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Classics

rosemiller11
rosemiller11 Posts: 224 Member
edited October 5 in Social Groups
So just wondering how many of you love the classics, or at least some of the older style charming books? I love them and have a very modest collection of old hardcover books. Can't wait to add to it! So let me know, do you like classics? Who is your favorite author? Why?

Replies

  • aranchmom
    aranchmom Posts: 176 Member
    Well, I haven't had the courage to tackle some of the classics, but I do like I like Gene Stratton Porter- because she has such a woodsy, charming style! I can imagine myself in the woods, among the wildflowers and the humming of bees... they are just peaceful and dreamy...

    Then of course there is Laura Ingalls, which I guess is a classic! She makes me hungry!!! Even if she is descibing mashed turnips - it sounds delish!! :tongue: Anyways, again, her books are peaceful and calming.:drinker:
  • kcarol92
    kcarol92 Posts: 1
    I've been reading some of Grace Richmond Smith lately, which I like. Also some of Zane Grey, James Herriot, Jane Austen, and Louisa May Alcott. And as much as I love Gene Stratton-Porter, I recently realized she mentions evolution in some of her books; namely Harvester and Daughter of the Land. Quite irritating to me.
    Guess those aren't all considered classics, but they are old.
  • rosemiller11
    rosemiller11 Posts: 224 Member
    @Carol, yeah, I remeber thinking that she does that in "The White Flag"Which just so happens to be one of her books that I absolutely HATE! One author I am working on right now is Jean Webster. Love her humorous style. :)
  • jls1661
    jls1661 Posts: 586 Member
    I love classics! I have a huge collection. My favs include (but not limited to) Herman Mellvilles Moby D---, Bram Strokers Dracula, Mary Shelley's Frankenstien, the Illiad and the Odessey by Homer, and Dante's Inferno. I could keep going, but you get the jist lol.
  • rosemiller11
    rosemiller11 Posts: 224 Member
    ha ha, yep, i do! I don't really like Moby D... Always kinda weirded me out just a tad with a whale that is so uncannily smart. :) I recently bought the iliad, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. Hopefully once this semester is over i can. :)
  • jls1661
    jls1661 Posts: 586 Member
    I have this awesome collection my mom got me as a kid. Remember Encyclopedia Brittanica? Well they had an addittional set called the Great Books, it includes everything from Socrates and Plato, to Shakespeare and Voltaire, to Darwin and Marx. It's 60 books total, all hard cover with gorgeous gold lettering. It is one of my prized possessions!
  • MrsSpratt
    MrsSpratt Posts: 200 Member
    Well, I haven't had the courage to tackle some of the classics, but I do like I like Gene Stratton Porter- because she has such a woodsy, charming style! I can imagine myself in the woods, among the wildflowers and the humming of bees... they are just peaceful and dreamy...

    Then of course there is Laura Ingalls, which I guess is a classic! She makes me hungry!!! Even if she is descibing mashed turnips - it sounds delish!! :tongue: Anyways, again, her books are peaceful and calming.:drinker:
    I'm reading "Little House in the Big Woods" to my three-year-old and she is absolutely mesmerized. The first few chapters are all about preparing and storing food for the winter--salting fish, smoking meat, hanging hams up in the attic etc. Really boring (plus over her head), but there is something about it that has her completely transfixed. I think it's what you said about it being calming and soothing.
  • anna_b1
    anna_b1 Posts: 588 Member
    I'm a huge fan of all Jane Austen novels. My favourite is Pride and Prejudice.

    *swoon Mr. Darcy! :)
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    I have this awesome collection my mom got me as a kid. Remember Encyclopedia Brittanica? Well they had an addittional set called the Great Books, it includes everything from Socrates and Plato, to Shakespeare and Voltaire, to Darwin and Marx. It's 60 books total, all hard cover with gorgeous gold lettering. It is one of my prized possessions!

    I have that set. Fabulous.

    I'm all about Steinbeck. Love him, but IDK if that is old enough to qualify under the heading "classics"
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    My favorite book ever is Jane Eyre. It's really awesome.

    I hesitate to say that I love the classics, because the truth is that I love some of them, and I love some modern books, and I don't really care about whether something is considered a "classic" or not. I really don't. I can appreciate a book without necessarily enjoying it. For instance, while I understand and applaud the genius of Shakespeare, I flat-out do not enjoy reading any of his plays. I don't even enjoy watching them. I think he was ahead of his time, and I understand why he's still studied, but I just don't find them that enjoyable. Love his poetry though.
  • williamsonday
    williamsonday Posts: 11 Member
    Yes, although I am mindful of Mark Twain's definition of a classic: a book which everyone praises and nobody reads.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    I regard he classics as those books have stood the test of time. If it was written THAT long ago, and it's still inprint, there's likely a good reason for it.

    I found my all-time fave book because it was on my "should read this" list. I alternate between books on the "should" list and books on the "just because I want to" list. If a "classic/should" book hasn't grabbed my attention by pg 100, I drop it like its HOT :)

    Books that I tried to like (becausethey were on the "should" list) but dropped by pg.100:
    Jane Eyre
    Pride and Prejudice
    Anna Karenina
    Atlas Shrugged (but hubby pushed through and loved it so I may give it another shot)
    Gone With the Wind
  • rblair_22
    rblair_22 Posts: 202 Member
    I love books in general, and my mood at the time tend's to decide what I want to read. I don't know if anyone would consider these classics, but I loved The Lord of the Rings Trilogy as well as Mario Puzo's The Godfather. One of the best books I have ever read was To Kill A Mockingbird when I was in 10th grade. I also enjoyed reading Dante's Inferno and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    I love Catcher in the rye and to kill a mockingbird.
  • Krizzle4Rizzle
    Krizzle4Rizzle Posts: 2,704 Member
    I love Catcher in the rye and to kill a mockingbird.

    Agreed. I also love Ordinary People.
  • rockandroll87
    rockandroll87 Posts: 14
    dracula and phantom of the opera
  • TheMaidOfAstolat
    TheMaidOfAstolat Posts: 3,222 Member
    I'm a huge fan of all Jane Austen novels. My favourite is Pride and Prejudice.

    *swoon Mr. Darcy! :)

    Yes yes yes! Than again...I love Austen! I love most classic novels. Everything from Shakespeare to Austen. I read so many c,assics growing up and in high school that I have taken a break from them by reading YA novels for a few years. I always go back to Austen, Eliot, Bronte (sisters), Chaucer, Shakespeare, and ****ens.
  • Mischief_Maiden
    Mischief_Maiden Posts: 15
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is definately an all time favorite of mine
    Divine Comedy, a lot of Shakespeare's plays (particularly Hamlet), and of course Cather in the Rye - are all up there

    Wuthering Heights is not particularly my favorite....>.>
  • finchest
    finchest Posts: 245 Member
    I love classics! Also, I can't believe MFP censors "Moby ****" (one of my favorite novels!)

    Particularly love John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, JD Salinger, F Scott Fitzgerald, Oscar Wilde...
    Recently read and loved "Theophilus North" by Thornton Wilder - fantastic!
  • Calyps0
    Calyps0 Posts: 44
    I like a lot of the classics from various era though Silas Marner by George Eliot, Germinal by Emile Zola, Voss by Patrick White are three I'd recommend to anyone. And I like the Russian classics especially when I am incapacitated or feeling down - Dostoevsky, Gogol, etc.

    I've never managed to read all of Moby **** even though I like stories about ocean voyages etc. Like William Golding's trilogy 'To the ends of the Earth', as well as naval history... Maybe I'll have another go at it in audio format.
  • khloe_rebecca
    khloe_rebecca Posts: 36 Member
    I dont really like classics that much, but I do LOVE Jane Eyre
  • smariere
    smariere Posts: 459 Member
    Has anyone read the Moonstone by Wilkie Collins? It was one of the first mystery novels. I couldn't put it down! I also love Atlas Shrugged, which is one of those books that starts off slow and really pulls you in as you get further.
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